[ESSAY] What Makes Us Human

There are so many different features and aspects that make up a single human being. The thought of what makes us human beings bring to mind an endless list of reasonings, both positive and negative. Curiosity, conscience, self-awareness, symbolic cognition, and the need for bonding are some traits that distinguish us from other species. The definitive characteristic of a human being is our mind.

The human mind forms our thoughts and it is what sets us apart from other species. The ability for our minds to function, think, and plan in time is an important aspect in terms of the past, present, and future. We are able to set goals for ourselves and have aspirations to achieve in life. We also have the ability to be creative. Us human beings are like no other species, especially in our concepts of development in art, music, literature, and so on. Our creative abilities allow us to adapt to new situations and solve new problems. In addition to creativeness, we think abstractly. For instance, an architect can visualize a building, and lay it out on something known as a  blueprint. The architect then passes the blueprint to a builder who will obviously do his job and construct the vision that first formed in the mind of the architect. Most of the things human beings learn is through the five senses: smell, touch or feel, see, hear, and taste.

Humans have the capability to establish diverse languages. Our minds learn how to comprehend connection between distinctive numbers, words, and even letters. In addition to that, we have the skill of learning or at least choosing to learn, also understanding a particular language as well. Human beings have the desire to experience emotions, whether it is happiness, joy, pride, anger, sadness, depression or excitement. Our emotions can most likely determine our personality, environment, habits, and maybe even physical appearance, but keep in mind that human beings have the option of chosing right or wrong behavior. We can distinguish what is good from what is bad. Although some people choose the wrong path in life, which is their mistake.

Our minds have the intelligence to expand our economic system. We have the desire to work and be productive. That includes development and experimentation of theories, working at a job, and even at providing a living. We also have the talent to perform mathematics (plus other studies) and operate machinery and computers.

The human brain is very complex. It is an advantage for us because we are able to transfer information and knowledge to further generations. We have the potential to deal with a variety of conflicts. Our minds come up with solutions for our problems by simply our perspective on things. The human mind has the capacity to appreciate. We are able to appreciate beauty, humor, people, etc. For example, if you were to go to an art gallery, you would be instantly driven to the artwork on display. If you were to take your dog to an art gallery, your dog couldn't possibly care less.

In my honest opinion, I feel the human mind is one of the most important factors that make up a human being. One obvious factor that makes humans, human is our exterior features. One example is our body. Our muscles and bone structure determine the shape and size of our figure. Secondly, our face. All the distinct features that make up our face, like the shape of our eyes and eyebrows, the size of our nose, the length of our mouth, etc., but our interior is just as important. Even if you can't physically see it.

Human beings would not be able to function properly if it weren't for our mind. Each individual human being has his or her own individual, unique mind that makes them who they are. Our conscious tells us from what is right from wrong. Our mind lets us be imaginative and come up with all sorts of crazy thoughts. Plus, we are able to memorize certain events and other important stuff. Memory  is the ability to preserve, retain, and  recall knowledge, information or experiences.  The human species is so caught up in their daily lives and what goes on in the world, that we sometimes don't have the chance to really take the time to understand what actually goes on in our heads. I think the word for this is "metacognition". That is when you are thinking about what you are thinking. The concept of our mind is to perceive thing in many different ways, concentrating on all sorts of topics. Our thoughts are based upon things in the world and how we are able to interpret it from another.

Humanity is made up of many, diverse components, but I believe that the foundation for all of those components is our mind. Our mind has the knowledge to respond to the world in a meaningful way. For instance, cause and effect. If something spontaneous were to occur, we would most likely have a certain reaction or response to whatever it was. We often have conversations with ourselves "inside" our head all the time, or at least I do. That would be kind of abnormal if you don't. It is not necessarily talking to yourself. It is more like how we "make up" our mind. If ya kow what I am trying to say... No one has access to our thoughts.

We have the skill to make decisions and reason. We store our kowledge inour mind which will eventually produce our thoughts. It is a like a (very short) chain reaction. We use our senses to acknowledge something, then we understand it by using context and/or previous experiences/activities.

The definitive characteristic of humanity is simply our mind. All the unique, yet complex distinctions of the human mind is vital to how our species live today. I think that human beings are one of the most magnificent creatures of all time. All of the amazing abilities our mind has taken upon us is incredible and we barely even notice it.

[CE] Deadly Typhoon in Japan

This is from Al Jazeera.

It was the second big storm to hit Japan this month after Typhoon Talas hit western Japan and left about 100 people dead or missing. Around two to four typhoons make landfall each year in Japan.

 First the earthquake, then the tsunami, and now a typhoon in Japan. That is pretty scary. So many people had to cope with the ones they lost and now another natural disaster is occurring. What does Mother Nature have on us? I guess she is just very unpredictable. We obviously cannot control Mother Nature.

Because Japan is made up of many little islands, it is more common to have these type of situations there in comparison to here. It is unfortunate how events like this happen in the world sometimes. Fortunately, the Fukashima Power Plant was not affected by this natural disaster, although there were some glitches here and there. But at least no radiation was leaked into the water. If it did, that would would be a whole other story.

Looking back, the people of Japan have gone through some tough times this year. It is devastating to see others go through a difficult yet scary situation like this. Imagine actually being in their place, or even worse, being in a situation like that in person and going through the aftermath. The thought of that is terrfiying. Well at least for me. I hope the people of Japan will recover from everything they have been through. Hopefully, they will move on with positive thoughts on what has happened.

[RE] Jumping to Conclusions

This is from Sharon's blog.

If someone says to be them self then they shouldn't judge the person for who he/she is. Every time someone jumps to a conclusion when they don't even know one thing about that person.

 I totally agree with you here Sharon. The phrase "don't judge a book by it's cover" basically explains it all. I believe it is wrong to judge someone you don't even really know. I mean that is just plain rude to talk bs about someone behind their back. I hear people all the time talking about others and it annoys me. Honestly, I am sure we all have done this before, and probably regret it. If somebody is being their self, why are you going to judge them for being who they are? That's messed up.

I do get frustrated sometimes, like Sharon mentioned, when people do this. In my opinion, it is unfair. If you don't know someone, at least get to know them before you even start to talk crap about them. I talked about this subject some time before, and every time it comes up, it makes me angry. Don't get me wrong, but I am just trying to speak my mind here.

Well it's not like I can change all the judgemental people in the world. People who are judgemental should keep in mind that when they judge people they barely know, it is obnoxious and immature. Don't jump to conclusions when you don't know someone, or else you might regret it.

[FREE] Insane Weather

What is with the weather in the bay area? It is currently September and it is like 90 degrees outside. It has been extremely hot lately. I can barely sleep at night. I lay in bed tossing and turning because it's sooo hot. I am glad I don't have PE at the end of the day. I would be sweating like crazy.

I think the weather was like this last year too. There was a couple of days in the fall last year  when there was a heat wave or something like that... I don't know. It sucks how the weather was not like this when it was actually summer. It is now fall and the weather is how it should be like in the summer. Weird huh?.. I hear it's suppose to cool down this weekend though. I just think it is strange having it be so hot when it's already fall. The past few days have been extra tiring because of this weather. I feel more lazier then i usually am. But I guess that's just me. This heat is just slowing me down more than i was before.

I mean don't get me wrong about hating on this weather. I just prefer the hot weather rather then  the cold. The classrooms are just really hot. Don't we have any a/c at our school? In each one of my classes, it is soo stuffy and hot in there. Plus I walk home after school, which makes pretty much makes everything worse.

[BC] A Game of Hide and Seek

It was a blazing hot day in the middle of summer vacation. A group of nine-year old friends are sitting outside on Janice's front porch eating a melting popsicle. The popsicle is literally dripping slowly down their fingers. Eventually, the friends decide to head inside Janice's house, where there is air conditioner.

The group of friends decide to play a game of hide and seek. Janice is counting to ten. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven ,eight , nine, ten, ready or not here I come... Adrenaline kicks in Lauren. She finds herself standing in front of an old door with paint chipping off of it. The first thing that came to Lauren's mind is that she's about to enter Janice's basement. She opens the creaking door quickly and walks in. The rusty hinges of the old door squealed like fingernails on a dusty chalkboard.

Once entering, she finds herself surrounded in a  blanket of darkness. She hears a loud slam, noticing it's the door behind her. Lauren's heart rate is increasing as the feeling of panic is making it's way into her. She tries to search for the light switch around her, but she suddenly remembers something. Before the game, Janice had warned the group of friends to not hide in the basement because the light switch is towards the back wall of the basement. She felt as if someone had spun and blind-folded her, then shoved her inside a closet. She somehow makes her way down the old concrete stairs one step at a time. She finds her hands touching a  sharp, rough surface. At first, she's thinking that she's going to use this to help keep her balance down the stairs. She then realizes that this is the stair railing. She grips the railing and feels something soft brush across her left cheek. "It tickles", she thought to herself. She shakes her head and and touches her cheek. A soft, sticky feeling brushes against her fingertips. It was a gross, old spiderweb. She shrieks. She was grossed out for sure.

Lauren finds that the rough surface is disappearing. She makes her way down the last step. Stepping foot on the smooth concrete basement floor was comforting, yet that meant she now has to search for that stupid old light switch. She walks into a wooden drawer. She uses her hands to feel what it is. Her hands touch something that feels like powder. She concluded that "powder" being dust. The feeling of panic is rushing back again. Sweat was forming on her hands and slowly, dripping around her eyes, down her face. Blood is rushing down her face. Her face is beginning to burn up. She's suddenly feeling nauseous inside. She thinks positively and makes a detour from the drawer. She touches a smooth yet rough surface again. It's a brick wall. She made it to the wall. She's patting the wall in search for that light switch. Jackpot, she felt the light switch. Lauren felt like a bunch of bricks have fallen from her shoulders. She flipped the switch, but nothing happened. She tried again, but still nothing. The ancient light bulb must have burned out a long time ago.

Lauren has no more hope left inside. She makes a decision to go back up the stairs. This time, she's on her hands and knees. She kneels on the cold, solid ground. She crawls into to something firm, but light. When she pushed it, it slid over. She used her hands to identify what this object was. It was an empty cardboard box. She pushed it to her left. Finally, she reached her first step. Slowly, she made her way up one cold step at a time. Suddenly, a sharp pain hits her head. It had a rough surface. It was the stair railing. Somehow, she managed to crawl right into the railing. A few minutes later, she found herself face-to-face with the solid, rusty-hinged door . She twisted the rusty door knob and she was free at last. A burst of brightness hit her eyes, as if she was a newborn opening its eyes for the first time.

Lauren ran out of the darkness and caught up with her friends. Her friends were calling her name, but apparently, she didn't hear them. She told them what happened. Janice warned her in the first place. Lauren agreed to never step foot in a basement again alone, or at least without a flashlight!

[CE] Japan Six Months From Disaster

This is from Al Jazeera.

Ceremonies to mourn the dead and rallies against nuclear power are taking place across Japan as the nation marks six months since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands of people.

I'm so angry because this is my second time typing this. When we were at the computer lab, I began writing this and I didn't finish because we had to leave. I pressed the "save" button, and it didn't save at all. I think it was because of that old computer I used. Now I'm trying to remember what I typed.

So anyways, it has been six months since the 7.9 earthquake struck as well as the tsunami in Japan. A special ceremony took place in Japan to memorize the lives that were lost. I can't believe it has been six months since the devastation occurred. I remember watching this event being all over the news. It's scary how it also affected us here.

Mother nature could be so dangerous. Japan is still recovering from the event today. And what about the radiation from the Fukashima Nuclear Power Plant? That is also a huge issue.

When the earthquake first struck Japan, the first thing that came to my mind was, 'What's going to happen after this?'. Later on, the tsunami hit and it was heartbreaking watching it on the news. Imagine actually being there in person in that type of situation. I am sure you all watched it on the news, so I'm not going to sit here and explain everything I saw. It's amazing how everyone in Japan got together and remembered their loved ones after an incident so tragic.

[RE] Response to "Be Happy With What You Have"

This is my response to Enkhlen's post.

We don’t realize how important and valuable a person is until that person is gone. So I would like to say be thankful and satisfied with what you have.

 I totally agree with Enkhlen's quote. You truly don't realize who is important to you until they are gone. Sometimes, if it's family or a friend, you have to appreciate what you have and take advantage of that. Even though you could be in a bad mood, or angry/upset with something, don't take it out on someone who has nothing to do with your own problem. Especially your parents. Even if you're mad at them today, don't be immature and hold a grudge against them. Just move on with your life and respect the fact that you have parents who love and care for you.

I somewhat feel like I am kind of shifting topics a little... Oh well, whatever. Anyways, I sometimes here kids complain about their lives and parents. It's so annoying how you can just sit there and complain about what you're grateful of even having. Mostly about your own parents. You should be lucky to even be alive. They basically provide a living for you. Thanks to them, you have a comforting place to live in, food to eat, warm clothes to wear, and so much more.

I guess some people don't notice this because we just go through so much in our daily lives. There's some people who don't even have parents with them anymore and they regret the fact that they didn't appreciate what they had when it was still available. Take advantage of every second you have in your life because it won't last forever.

[FREE] Remembering 9/11

I spent almost my whole day today watching documentaries about 9/11 on the National Geographic channel, because i have nothing better to do in my life. Please don't be annoyed with all my postings of this topic. I hope there isn't a certain limit to posting blogs about 9/11. I just can't seem to not right about something big like this event. If you know what I am trying to say. I was about to shed a tear while watching it. It was heartbreaking just watching the the south tower collapse, then slowly afterwards, the north tower. I saw some people who just gave up hope and jumped out of a window.

A brutal fight against  terrorists and passengers occurred in the cockpit of a hijacked plane. That plane was intended to crash into the Capital building. But crashed into a town in Pennsylvania instead. Seeing the airplanes fly into the Twin Towers at a couple hundred miles per hour was horrifying to watch. Imagine being there at the incident. What would you do? Where would you run? Imagine what all those victims went through.

I was just sitting in my living room, watching one documentary after another. If only I understood what was happening on this day ten years ago. I remember this tragedy being on every newscasts, but i just didn't comprehend what was actually going on. Finally, after ten years, i understand what really happened, like Bin Laden's plan, his clan who were involved in the hijacking, and so on.

We will all remember that day, even if the Twin Towers aren't standing there. Memorizing the lives that were lost during this devastating event. September 11, 2001 has become a part of history. I think I also heard something about another World Trade Center Being built. It will be finish in about 2015 though.

[RE] Response to "A Stupid Mistake": I agree

This is my response to David Yu's post.

Why he got shot you asked? Well its because one of the US soldier thought Ahmed Omed was a suicide bomber.

It's sad when you hear about an innocent person being killed for a mistaken identity. Ahmed was just a journalist doing a report when he suddenly gets shot by a U.S. soldier. Plus, he was only twenty-five, which is still pretty young. I respect the fact that this is their duty, but mistaking someone for being an enemy is something I wouldn't say messed up, but yeah.

 If I were to be in the soldier's position, I would be thinking about maybe pulling the trigger, if I saw suspicious action. However, Ahmed wasn't pulling a grenade out or anything. This whole incident was basically,... a huge misunderstanding. It's unfortunate, that something like this occurred. I remember watching the news this one time, and an incident similar to this happened in Oakland. It's sad for the victim's family. This is kind of a wake-up call to people when something like this happens. It shows that we have trust issues, yet we have the right to do what we think is safe for our surroundings.

Like what David said about being mistaken for somebody else, it's something people have to be aware of because it can be preventable, just as long you don't look like the "bad guy".

[CE] The Heros of 9/11

So I have decided to blog about 9/11 again. Except this is for my current event post. Anyways, after watching this video clip, I gained so much more respect and appreciation for police officers as well as fire fighters. They are truly heros to that devastating event as well as to everyday life. Speaking of heros, all those volunteers who took the time to sacrifice their own lives is just incredible. I mean they really risked their lives by going through all that rubble and debri, also exposing themselves to dangerous toxins.

Particularly the man in the video clip above. He now has to live with these life long conditions because of some of the amazing stuff he has accomplished ten years ago. I can just barely imagine the condition of Ground Zero right after the incident. The clean up procedure must have felt like it took forever.

I can honestly say that this year's anniversary of 9/11 has been the most meaningful to me. I just feel like I learned so much more about this event than the previous years. It seems like the whole nation came together at one point during the tragedy. The emotional impact took a toll in many lives of people during that time until this day.

[FREE] My Thoughts On 9/11

So today in English class, we were talking about 9/11. September 11, 2001 was horrific day to many. So many innocent lives were taken that day. I remember being so little when this tragic event occurred. I guess I didn't really understand what was going on except for the fact that it was all over the news/media. Growing up and going through the anniversary of 9/11 every year made me aware of all the situations going on in the U.S. Coincidentally, I was just watching a documentary on 9/11 on tv. Seeing the World Trade Center fall to the ground instantly gave me goosebumps. I mean it literally just crumbles to the ground creating a mess afterwards. The aftermath was obviously difficult to take in. So in a couple of days will be the 10th anniversary of that day. I guess we'll just have to learn to cope with the present/future and appreciate what we have now, also memorizing the ones who's lives were taken by something super tragic!!.

[BC] A Little Bit of Me...

Hello. My name is Vivian. Well here I am writing about myself... again, but I am obviously not telling you every single detail of me. Duh! Read my title. I feel like I write something like this every school year. So some things I like to do for fun is swimming, bike riding, spending time with my family, and traveling. I am the oldest sibling of three sisters. I guess you can say that I have a big family including all of my relatives. Anyways, I went to elementary school and middle school here on the island. Last school year, I joined the swim team here at our school. It was overall a good experience, although I'm not the fastest or strongest swimmer, I still enjoy it. I also made some new friends as well. One thing that not many people know about me is that I love water sports. I get it from my dad. And guess what? I got certified as a junior scuba diver a few summers ago. At times, it was difficult because of all the heavy equipment, but it was a fun experience. To give you an idea of my experience, I swam through jellyfishes (kind of creepy), I was surrounded by kelp and seaweed and I saw starfishes all over the ocean floor. Oh, by the way, this was in Monterey. Anyways, moving on from water sports, something I want to do more of is to travel. My family has always been interested in traveling to other places. The only country I have been to outside of the United States is Vietnam and Taipei. Well the only place I have been to in Taipei is actually the airport. But still... Okay, now when I am I going to reach five hundred words? It feels like this is taking forever. I forgot to mention that I like to draw. I draw in my spare time. I know it may sound lame or boring for me to say that I draw for no reason. But it is something I enjoy doing. During class, I doodle on my notes, but in art class, my skills are shown by my grades. I use to carry a sketch book around me. By being in this class, I hope to increase my vocabulary skills as well as become a better writer in general. This is my first time blogging, so please take it easy on me. By posting all these blogs, hopefully I will gain better writing experience. To be honest, English was never my favorite subject. I have never been creatively good on writing essays. I guess I just don't know how to make my writing seem or sound exciting. I will just keep on trying harder and harder to improve my writing. You know, I never really expected or pictured myself to have or even create a blog. But here I am writing my first blog. Well I hope you kept yourself awake from reading my boring blog. :)